no one mourns the wicked...

I can't do another blog post without some sort of reaction first to the death of Osama bin Laden. The only problem is that I don't exactly know how to react.

I'll admit that when I first heard the news, my heart leaped a little, and I felt some sort of...justice I guess for the people most affected by 9-11. And I also felt ENORMOUS pride toward our military, not just the guys who are on "team 6," but all of them.

but then I saw the chanting and the screaming and the REJOICING that was happening all over our country. and it did NOT sit right with me. I saw the facebook posts about American "pride" which actually seemed more like arrogance to me.

Maybe it's because we lived in Spain for a bit that I can look "from the outside" and see what other people see. I wish it was unity that was portrayed. I wish it was pride. But to me it was arrogance. and sin. And I can just imagine other countries looking at us saying "here they go again" or something of the sort. I don't know...

I think our military deserves a lot of credit for the many years they've put in to fight terrorism, apart from their families, in horrible conditions. They will always be heroes in my book.

But I'm not so sure this is a time for celebration.

maybe we SHOULD be mourning the death of the wicked. It's one more man to spend eternity apart from his creator. and let's not forget that he didn't act alone. and quite honestly, I'm more concerned about my safety now than before he was dead, knowing that terrorists around the world watched our reaction to his death. They probably want nothing more than to give us another reason to weep instead of cheer.

Proverbs 24:17
Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice.

so there it is. I definitely celebrate the idea that "good will conquer evil" and that this man is no longer able to {directly} ruin the lives of so many people. But celebrate his death I will not.

"I will mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
-Martin Luther King Jr.